This invention relates to apparatus for atomizing liquid medicaments or drug atomizers and, more particularly, to apparatus of this type which include a body member provided with passages adapted to be connected to compressed gas and a mouthpiece or exhalation valve, a liquid medicament container and a nozzle assembly.
Conventional drug atomizers generally include a body member and a nozzle assembly which is either permanently fixed to or integral with the body member so that the nozzle assembly cannot be disassociated from the body member such, for example, as for cleaning purposes. Such nozzle assemblies generally include a nozzle portion and a fixing portion, the latter serving to locate the nozzle portion at its appropriate location. In fact, in conventional drug atomizers presently in use, the container in which the liquid medicament is located constitutes the only component which can be disassociated from the body member, the container generally being removably affixed thereto by means of screw threads or the like.
In view of the construction of conventional drug atomizers as described above, cleaning operations tend to be exceedingly awkward and difficult and, in fact, it is frequently impossible to clean such prior art apparatus in a satisfactory manner.
More particularly, drug atomizers presently in use include a so-called intervening space within the nozzle assembly into which the liquid medicament is drawn by suction and wherein the medicament is admixed with a pressurized gas flow. This intervening space communicates on one hand with an aperture formed in an inwardly extending connecting or juncture cone integral with the body portion of the atomizer and on the other hand with a slightly larger aperture provided in the nozzle assembly. During operation, bacteria and and various foreign matter tend to accumulate and due to the integral nature of the nozzle assembly with the body member, such accumulations cannot be easily removed if at all in a reliable manner. For example, where liquid cleaning agents are utilized, there is a possibility that toxic chemicals contained in such cleaning agents will be deposited and retained within the intervening space with the possibility that such chemicals will be entrained within the pressurized gas flow and introduced into the patient's lungs along with the inspired air or oxygen and atomized medicament when the atomizer is next used. Further, the bacteria which accumulates in the intervening space can also be carried along with the pressurized gas flow into the patient's lungs. Still further, if foreign matter is allowed to accumulate in the intervening space over a period of time, there is a possibility that the nozzle assembly will itself become completely occluded thereby preventing normal operation of the atomizer thereby resulting in a dangerous situation for the patient.